Overview for Life and Teachings of Sri Ma Anandamayi: A Bird on the Wing
For a span of more than 50 years Ma Anandamayi treaded gracefully the spiritual horizon of India - and in her wake followed top dignitaries,as well as the lowliest of the lowly, enchanted by her gently dispensation of wisdom and love to all... To the man in the street she was the 'guru' and confidante of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. All V.I.Ps visiting India made an appointment with her an item in their itineraries. No big religious function was held anywhere in the country without an invitation to her for her gracious and radiant presence on the dais. The keepers of our heritage-the ascetic orders of India were united in recognizing Ma anandamayi as the quintessence of the Upanishadic tradition... scholars trained in modern universities derived inspiration from her. Ma Anandamayi by her presence in our midst during the most difficult decades of our times consolidated our past and taught how to live in the very demanding times of the twentieth century and face up to the challenge of the twenty-first. She was born in India but in herself she belongs to humanity. Swami Sivananda (Divine Life Society) had said that she was the finest flower that the soil of India had produced. Such question as whether she was an incarnation, a Siddha Yogin or the adya sakti (Pandit Gopinath Kaviraj) used to sink into irrelevancies in her presence. She was for everyone, man, women and child from all corners of the world, a guide of infallible power, a friend of unfailing compassion and understanding. To Ma Anandamayi, there was no one who was an 'other'. In her we touched a dimension of unity which encompassed all religions and all countries. Each person in her presence found fulfillment and her presence in over-abiding.
Bithika Mukherje (Author)
The author Dr. Bithika Mukherje (M.A., D.Phil, Allahabad University, Ph.D. McMaster University, Canada) was associated with Sri Ma Anandamayi, since her childhood. She wrote her first biography of Sri Ma Anandamayi in 1964, which has long been out of print. It is generally acknowledged that she has a special flair for understanding Sri Ma Anandamayi's way of being in the world. Ms. Blance Sehlamm, the first editor of Ananda Varta, tended to use Dr. Mukerji as a tuning fork for checking the translationso f Sri Ma Anandamayi's vani. Richard Lannoy (author of Anandamayi, Element Books, England) writes that she is "a valiant and loyal interpreter." Her personal knowledge of people and incidents she is writing about, her deep comitment and painstaking research add up to a quality of authenticity to be appreciated by the cognoscenti.
Bagchee
